Bus-Fare Cuts Fail to Lure Queens Riders

By SETH FAISON

Published: November 29, 1992

Frustrated by the swarms of private vans in southeastern Queens that have siphoned away thousands of riders each day, and millions of dollars in revenue each year, the Transit Authority recently did something it had never done before: It cut the bus fare.

On selected lines to and from the Jamaica Center subway station, where commuters catch Manhattan-bound trains, round-trip fares were cut from $2.50 to $1.50, or 75 cents each way, compared with the $1 van rides. "We're going to meet them head-on," Peter E. Stangl, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said when he announced the new fare in October. "We're going to beat them."

Six weeks later, those hopes seem to be evaporating. Few regular van riders have been lured back to the buses, concedes Alan F. Kiepper, president of the Transit Authority. Many riders say they do not mind paying an extra quarter or two for the speed and comfort of the vans, which use side streets to avoid traffic, play music and often deliver passengers to their doors.

Riders concerned about safety -- some vans are driven aggressively and lack insurance -- never defected from city buses. Loyalty to Local Businesses

"They want to beat the vans?" asked George Henry one recent evening, when the black van he drives was one of about 25 parked and double-parked along Parsons Boulevard, all quickly filling with passengers. "Just give faster and better service. When is that going to happen? Hah!"

Convenience and price are at the top of any commuter's mind. But in Jamaica, there also seems to be a deep sympathy that many residents feel for locally grown businesses like the van companies, many of which are operated by Caribbean immigrants. Riders, who are predominantly black, frequently express mistrust of agencies like the Transit Authority, and are happy to have an alternative.

"I don't ride the buses," said Chaquille Johnson, a 16-year-old student whose school pass allows her to ride the bus free but who pays to take a van. "Those people don't care about us. They set up their times and their routes for their own reasons, not ours."

Young men clustered beside the vans on Parsons Boulevard one recent evening, some barking directions as they steered passengers toward the next available van, others relaxing to the Caribbean music of a tape player.

"We're trying to make a living out here, in a legitimate way," said one dispatcher, Sargent Smith. "Why don't they let us be?"

Darrell Dolby, a street vendor at Jamaica Center who watches riders board vans all day and then does so himself in the evening, said riders liked supporting the vans.

"The money they collect stays in the community," he said. "It's not going away into some state coffer, and getting spent on the South Bronx or someplace." Move to Regulate Vans

A bill that would enable New York City to license and better regulate the vans was passed by the State Legislature in July. Gov. Mario M. Cuomo is expected to sign it this week.

Once the City Council follows with its own legislation, transportation officials say, a task force of police and other agencies will try to enforce clearer van regulations. Licensed livery vans are allowed to pick up passengers only by previous arrangement, not anywhere on the street.

In practice, however, vans collect passengers at will along bus routes, including at bus stops. Once a van fills up, it becomes an express. And many van drivers are known for their aggressiveness, unafraid of sidewalks or red lights.

Mr. Kiepper said the Transit Authority had eased its enforcement efforts against vans since the new fare began, to see whether price alone would draw riders back to the buses.

"There doesn't seem to be much effect," he said, adding that tougher enforcement would resume next month. "There's a role for vans. What causes us great pain is that they just go right along our routes."

The drop in bus revenue on the lines that run from Jamaica Center has become worse since November 1990, officials say, when parts of two major thoroughfares, Jamaica and Archer Avenues, were made into one-way routes. Forcing all eastbound buses onto Jamaica Avenue has slowed bus travel time by an average of 10 minutes per journey during the evening rush hour, the Transit Authority has said, while vans using side streets became faster by comparison. Big Drop in Bus Ridership

Bus routes along Archer Avenue that go to and from Jamaica Center lost a full 16 percent of their riders from September 1991 to September 1992, while bus ridership dropped about 3.3 percent citywide.

The Transit Authority estimates the daily round-trip commuters on Jamaica Center buses at about 33,000, and the number of van riders, which is harder to gauge, at about 10,000. When fares were cut last month, transit officials said they hoped to win back about half that number.

If ridership picks up, transit officials say, service around Jamaica Center will be expanded. But they do not intend to reduce the number of buses if it does not, recognizing the danger of cutting service because of falling demand, only to make vans even more attractive.

Starting in January, the Q4, Q5 and Q83 express bus lines will be re-routed to Liberty Avenue, which transit officials hope will reduce a bus's running time by six minutes per trip. Difficult to Recover Riders

The bus fare increase to $1.25 from $1.15 in January 1992 was another incentive for riders to take vans, which have kept to $1 ever since the bus fare was that low. Mr. Kiepper said earlier this month that Transit Authority officials monitoring the fare cut had reported some vans reducing their fares to 75 cents per ride. But van drivers denied cutting fares.

"Why would we?" asked Mr. Henry, the driver, motioning at the passengers quickly filling his van. "We'd have to be crazy. We're doing well with $1. Why should we change?"

Bus drivers on the routes offering the reduced fare -- the Q4, Q5, Q42, Q84 and Q85 buses -- agree that it will be difficult to recover the bulk of riders that have been lost to the vans.

"The only place you see a crowded bus is where there are no vans," said a driver on the Q5 line. Will It Last?

The fare reduction, welcomed by riders who have stuck to the buses, has also been greeted with skepticism over whether it will last or not.

"These buses, they're lowering the rates now," said James R. Smith, 55, who says he prefers vans, "but if the vans went out of business, the fares would go back up."

Transit officials say that they recognize that vans have become a permanent feature of Queens and Brooklyn commuting and that improving regulation will help the city achieve a balance of public and private transportation. Consumers say they see no disadvantage in the competition.

"If they tried to stop them, people would rebel," Marjorie Lawla, a commuter who drives a van for the city's Human Resources Administration, said of the vans in Queens. "This is part of our lives, part of our livelihood. And I like having a choice. Why not let me choose?"

Photo: Private vans in southeastern Queens have whisked away thousands of fare-paying passengers prompting the Transit Authority to cut bus fares in hopes of luring back the commuters. At the Jamaica Center subway station, the gypsy vans awaited customers who, despite the cuts in bus fare, remained loyal to the speed, comfort and convenience offered. (Philip Greenberg for The New York Times)